Tag: World Series 2010

Its been a very long while since the San Francisco Giants have won the World Series. It was due to come, since the Giants have not won a World Series since Willie Mays led the Giants to their last championship back in 1954. For years later, the franchise moved to the west, but it seems that the sunny beaches of California have not been the ideal environment for the Giants to repeat its success; until now.

A group of shaggy, low-profiled players, a somewhat of an unlikely chemical bond between distinct personalities and playing stiles have all come together into what we now know as the 2010 World Series Champions. This band of brothers, conformed from what they themselves have described as castoffs and misfits have all landed in San Francisco and have accomplished what the likes of Baseball stardome such as Barry Bonds, Juan Marichal and Willie McCovey hadn’t: Win the big game.

The Giants were lead by Tim Lincecum, the 26 year-old right-handed pitcher, left-handed batter, from Bellevue, Washington, lead the Giants through the season and was key in the World Series against the Texas Rangers, including his opening performance in game 1 and game 5 of the series which the Giants won by 4-1.

The San Francisco Giants played both Tim Lincemcum and Edgar Renteria to win Game 5 of the series by a 3-1 margin. The celebration came at Arlington, Texas, before a stadium filled with Rangers’ fans, that left their pride behind and applauded the winning team. San Francisco was going nuts. Big Celebrations were taking over in every sports bar around the San Francisco Bay Area.

This guys had to deal with much pressure. The Giants had been made it in tree distinct occasions into the World Series. But in each and every one of the games they faced in 1962, 1989 and 2002, the Giants had fell short. And Lincecum was sharp as a knife. He was capable of beating Cliff Lee for the second time in a week. He hold on tight and gave up only three hits over eight innings and stuck out 10 players.

Now, the teams that let go of players like Edgar Renteria, Cody Ross, Freddy Sanchez and Huff, might be wondering if they made the best call by letting them go. It is a team of misfits, that somewhat, with a bit of teamwork and a whole lot of motivation, pushed pass the barriers and won the championship. They where not the favorites at the beginning of the season: that’s for sure. But heck, that’s why when it comes to wagering on sports, sometimes it does pay to play your chances and play the underdogs.

Now, about the score: the Giants won 6 games in the postseason by 3 runs or fewer. But they seem to do well wining by the minimum margin. The Giants have now matched their longtime rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers by 5 World Series Titles a piece. The New York Yankees have won the most Series with 27 titles. The Yankees are followed by the Cardinals with 10, the Oakland Athletics with 9 and the Red Sox with 7.